THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS AND NUTRITION 249 



other foods found in the vegetables used in the manu- 

 facture ; though no one drinks those beverages for the 

 sake of the trace of nourishing matter in them. But 

 there are formed along with the alcohol in fermentation 

 other products, some of which are known to be directly 

 poisonous, while others are at least probably injurious. 

 Fusel oil and various ethers are among these substances. 

 Another source of danger is found in the frequent adul- 

 teration of alcoholic beverages. The great expense attend- 

 ing their manufacture leads to the use of inferior 

 materials, impure sugars, defective fruits, etc., and to 

 the addition of poisonous coloring and flavoring matters. 

 In some cases even so virulent a poison as strychnine 

 has been found. These adulterations still further men- 

 ace the health of the users of such drinks. 



362. The Most Dangerous Quality of Alcohol. Bad as it is 

 to suffer from enfeebled physical conditions, it is yet worse 

 to become weak in mind and unstable in moral character. 

 No one will deny that such weakness and instability are 

 results of the excessive use of alcoholic liquors. But no 

 man ever lived who deliberately determined to make 

 himself a drunkard, when first beginning to taste the 

 exhilaration of the moderate use of such' beverages. 

 Every one thinks he will confine himself to the small 

 quantity which he believes will do him no harm. How 

 is it, then, that in all the great cities of the world certain 

 streets are by night full of the sounds of crazy drunken 

 revelry; that prisons are crowded with criminals made 

 such by involuntary acts when "in liquor"; that myriads 

 of human beings tumble every year into drunkards' graves, 

 dying as the beast dieth, all the beauty and dignity of 

 life wrecked long before, all hope, all possibility of rescue 

 long since abandoned ? 



